Previous | Next
Part: 123456789 Session: 1 Page na123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495050a51525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534536537538539540541542 of 542
expense. The idea back of it had been to reduce the clerical costs on the payroll and also to put in a more severe type of financial supervision on wages, so that you not only got paid for your basic time, plus production, but your production rate varied from week to week, time to time, day to day even, depending upon the amount of production beyond your quota. Each man had his own quota. He wouldn't know what it was a all on the books and was measured. The superintendent couldn't tell the men what his quota was.
One of the floor superintendents was the man who gave me the greatest insight into it. I must say that the workers were fairly inexperienced at striking, and negotiating, and being represented by persons of their own choosing, so they didn't always give a very clear picture of what went on. They often used very picturesque and vivid language, but it didn't give you an exact story of what the grievances were. They were mad all right. But one of the floor superintendents, who was a very decent man, was the man who really explained it to us most completely. He said to me privately, “I don't blame them. I don't know how anybody could live under this. I couldn't explain it to them. Nobody can explain it to them. This is one of those things those smart
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help